There are a large variety of electric appliances having different types of detachable electric cords to suit different needs. Most such electric cords have two plug members connected by an electric cable, in which one of the plug members is connectable to the electric appliance, while the other plug member is connectable to an electric source, e.g. a mains socket.
A main shortcoming with such a conventional arrangement is that once the electric cord is engaged with the electric appliance, it is usually very difficult to detach the plug member from the electric appliance. This can be very dangerous if the electric cable is accidentally pulled when the electric appliance is operating. For instance, if a person trips over by the electric cable of an operating electric deep fryer or kettle, the whole appliance unit can be turned over and the contents, e.g. hot oil or boiling water, may be poured out of the deep fryer or kettle, possibly causing serious injuries to the person or other people around.
Ways have thus been proposed to overcome or at least mitigate such shortcomings. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 6,568,942 issued to Lau et al. (the contents of which are incorporated herein for reference as if wholly repeated here) discloses an electric appliance with a body member and a detachable electric cord. The body member includes a connecting portion having at least one pin member extended therefrom. The electric cord includes at least a first plug member and a second plug member which are electrically connected with each other. The first plug member is electrically connectable to an electric source, e.g. the mains socket, and the second plug member is releasably engageable with the connecting portion of the body member by a magnetic attracting force between them. The pin member includes a taper end surface, and the second plug member includes at least one aperture sized to receive the pin member of the connecting portion of the body member, and             width      ⁢                          ⁢      of      ⁢                          ⁢      the      ⁢                          ⁢      aperture              width      ⁢                          ⁢      of      ⁢                          ⁢      the      ⁢                          ⁢      pin      ⁢                          ⁢      member        ⁢          ⁢  is  ⁢          ⁢  in  ⁢          ⁢  the  ⁢          ⁢  range  ⁢          ⁢  of  ⁢          ⁢  1.1  ⁢          ⁢  to  ⁢          ⁢  5.
Despite the availability of such an easily detachable electric cord, there are still in existence a large variety of electric appliances already manufactured and equipped with conventional electric cords fixedly attached thereto.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an electrical accessory enabling an electric cord to be connected with the mains supply, while allowing the electric cord to be easily detached from the mains supply in appropriate circumstances.